Nastia Liukin Wins Gold

Gymnast Nastia Liukin Gets Gold for Herself and Her Dad

Like most of the country, I have been glued to the Olympic coverage. In the wee hours of Friday morning, I watched 18–year–old American Nastia Liukin earn the title as the third American woman to win the all around gold medal for the US. Holding my breath and grinding my teeth with every approach she made, I rooted her on. But nobody wanted it more than her dad.

Twenty years ago, her father and coach, Valeri Liukin, won two gold medals for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Olympics. He fell short of winning the overall gold medal in the individual competition by one tenth of a point to a fellow countryman. Interestingly enough, one of the commentators for NBC said that papa is known for saying, "Second is the worst on the world; only one color works for this family." Talk about pressure. After she won the gold, he said:

She fix my mistakes. . . I lose by one-tenth of a point to Vladimir, but she fix that.

Luckily she won the medal for herself, her parents and America. I hope this lil lady doesn't let daddy forget who brought home the gold.Source

I think they were both great. My husband and I were split on Nastia. I think it's just the way you look at it. I played a sport every season so I thought Nastia seemed totally focused and invested in her moment. My husband didn't play sports at all, and he thought she came across pissy and preferred Shawn.

I have to agree with tweet hotpants. nastia looked composed and concentrated, not pissy. imagine the kind of pressure those girls were under! both shawn and nastia handled themselves extremely well. I'm so happy that they took the gold AND silver! yay USA!

I think almost all of us wanted Shawn to win. Something about Nastia and her father's relationship seems creepy to me, and all I could think about was the pressure Nastia must have to win.
But, all in all, both girls were fabulous and sure made America proud! =]

I think almost all of us wanted Shawn to win. Something about Nastia and her father's relationship seems creepy to me, and all I could think about was the pressure Nastia must have to win.But, all in all, both girls were fabulous and sure made America proud! =]

i disagree foxie- i thought nastia looked focused and composed, not like a brat. i was rooting for her the whole night- i'm so happy for her...it was great to see her finally smile though when she won :)

Ugh. I was rooting for Shawn Johnson. She looks like such a sweetheart who is really enjoying being at the Olympics. Nastia kinda looked like a pissy brat the entire time she was on camera and the dynamic between her and her father is just off-putting.